


San Junipero: Systems Down

by livvjulienne



Category: Black Mirror (TV), San junipero - Fandom
Genre: Action, Black Mirror AU, Drama, F/F, Fluff, Inspired by Black Mirror, Kelly x Yorkie, Original Content - Freeform, San Junipero Continuation, four years later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2019-10-26 06:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17740844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livvjulienne/pseuds/livvjulienne
Summary: Four years after we left Kelly and Yorkie in San Junipero, the seemingly perfect 'heaven on earth' location is starting to show signs of impending instability. When a virus mysteriously attacks TCKR Systems, glitches start to appear throughout the simulated reality and threaten to destroy the place so many have learned to call home. As locals begin to disappear, Kelly and Yorkie fear that their heavenly paradise might turn into a hell on earth.





	1. We’ll Make Heaven A Place On Earth

Track One: “Heaven is a Place on Earth” The Mayries

12:00 AM

As the tourists of San Junipero were forced to return to reality, the clubs and bars of the city were still bustling. A local man, appearing in his mid-20s, stumbled outside of the city limits and towards the beach with a beer in his hand. The grand smile on his face suggested he was not only drunk, but perfectly happy about it. His button-down shirt was now unbuttoned revealing his smooth chest and slightly chunky middle, khaki shorts to match with some old beat up sneakers on his feet. He stumbled onto the cold sand, the lights from the streets illuminating the beach just enough for him to see where he was going. Once nearer to the water, he fell back lacking any grace and sat with his knees bent, staring out onto the water. The temperature tonight was cool, slightly breezy, the perfect evening in the perfect place. Heaven on Earth. 

" _Oh I, I got a funny feelin’ when she walked in the room. And I, as I recall it ended much too soon,_ ” the man sang out of key in a timid but joyful voice, " _Oh, what a night. Hypnotizing, mesmerizing me, she was everything I dreamed she’d be. Sweet surrender, what a…_ ”

His voice trailed off as in the distance, on the dark horizon of the calm ocean, a flash of light seemed to catch his attention. Every few seconds, a quick flash of what looked like sunlight interrupted the mask of nighttime, like a glitch. 

" _night…_ ” He whispered that last word of the chorus as he stood, wobbly, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at it. Feeling a tease of sobriety, he dropped his beer into the sand as the phenomena continued.

Suddenly, silent bolts of what looked like lightning appeared in the glitch, the space mapped out like a perfect square in the sky, like a panel of their computerized world had been tampered with.

Then, within seconds, it stopped. Everything returned to normal.

The man stood there for a while longer, the only person to have witnessed the strange defect.

 

* * *

  
   


9:00 AM, the next morning

The back doors to the beach house were wide open allowing the beautiful ocean breeze into the bedroom. The white curtains flowed naturally with the breeze, dimming the room just enough to keep the sun from brightening it up too much. The few windows in the room were also open, everything calm and very peaceful. 

The alarm clock didn’t go off, but it blared a friendly 9:01 in sharp red LED lights. The bed, framed perfectly in the room, was still occupied. Yorkie’s hand rested beside her as she slept on her side, a beautiful diamond ring on her ring finger. From behind, an arm fell around her gently, Kelly beginning to stir. Kelly’s hand adorned her own diamond ring, and she pulled herself closer to Yorkie’s warm body.

Yorkie smiled, this time of day being her favorite now. When they’d wake up together and snuggle for a little while longer. When they’d be together without anywhere to go. No rushing. No time limits. She rolled over onto her back just enough to admire Kelly’s face, her smile only growing. She nibbled on her bottom lip anxiously before leaning in gently to kiss Kelly’s lips. Although Kelly’s eyes were closed, she knew better. She was awake. “Hi.” She whispered.

A smile appeared across Kelly’s lips as she stretched just a bit, closing that final gap between them as she pulled herself closer to her wife. “Hi.” She whispered more softly than Yorkie had. 

Yorkie played with the ring on Kelly’s finger, rolling over completely now to face her, bumping her nose to Kelly’s playfully. “Happy Anniversary.”

That smile on Kelly’s face only brightened, and she blinked her eyes open to find Yorkie’s bright ones staring back at her. “Another one?”

“Apparently so. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun.”

“Four years.” Kelly reminded her as her hand fell to Yorkie’s cheek lovingly. “And still it’s just as amazing waking up to you every morning. I thought for sure I’d be tired of you by now.”

Yorkie laughed softly, “well, thanks.” She slipped her arm around Kelly’s tiny middle, admiring her still.

“What?” Kelly asked, mid-bashful laugh.

“Nothing. You’re just so beautiful,” she laughed softly as well, always getting so caught up in these moments with her. 

Music echoed through their home from a few scattered Bluetooth speakers, including one in the bathroom as they showered together after a very frisky morning. Now in the kitchen, Kelly was preparing a late breakfast for them – or an early lunch, according to Yorkie. 

“Mm, smells good.” Yorkie said softly as she entered the kitchen, slipping a t-shirt over her head before running her hands through her drying hair. “What should we do today?” She asked, peering over Kelly’s shoulder to get a look at what she was cooking up. She reached into one of the hot pans for a piece of crispy potato, her hand getting swatted as she snatched one and tossed it into her mouth. “Ow!”

Kelly giggled, nudging her out of the way cutely. “It’s not done yet, and you’re going to burn your mouth again.”

Yorkie smirked, “am not!” She instead moved around the counter to sit at one of the four stools there, watching her cook.

Kelly paused for a moment, thinking it over, “let’s see, what have we done the last few years?”

“First anniversary we danced at Tuckers, 1929, your choice. Then we went to see the first Ghostbusters opening night, June 8th 1984, per my request. As I recall, you threw popcorn at me the entire time and fake yawned your way through the best parts just to get on my nerves.”

Smiling proudly, Kelly nodded as she accepted blame. “Not my favorite movie choice of yours, I’m sorry. I may be forever young, but I’m still an old-fashioned lady with a love for the classics.”

“Ghostbusters is a classic! What are you talking about?” Yorkie defended, her tone playful. 

“Darling, Casablanca is a classic. Citizen Kane is a classic. Gone with the Wind, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Streetcar Named Desire-“

“To Kill A Mockingbird, An American in Paris, My Fair Lady, I know, I know.” She finished for Kelly, clearly having heard this speech before. But she shook her head stubbornly before continuing, “you’re missing out on some good stuff, babe. The Andy Dufresne’s, the Norman Bates’s, the Dr. Egon Spengler’s, the freaking Marty McFly’s!”

“Whatever nonsense you’re spewing is ridiculous.” Kelly’s tone was just as playful, their banter often just as silly as this. “What kind of a name is Egon anyway?”

“A _classic_ one.” Yorkie stated with her typical smart-ass tone, a big, toothy and proud smile stretched across her face.

“Shut up, stupid.” Kelly replied, that being a term of endearment for them instead of an outright insult. “Let’s skip the cinema this year. Something tells me it won’t end well.”

Yorkie nodded in agreement, thinking it over. “Well, for year two we went out to dinner and walked on the beach, then came back here for dessert, then more dessert.” She bounced her eyebrows cutely, causing her glasses to slide down her nose just a bit before she readjusted them.

“Now _that_ was a great night. And last year we hit some pretty neat museums. Who knew we could see the Mona Lisa right here in San Junipero? Color me impressed.”

“How about… a boat? We could rent one, go out on the water around sunset, bring some amazing take-out with us and just enjoy the night together.” She offered. “Our own little space away from home.”

Kelly turned the burners off, finding Yorkie’s eyes for a moment. “That actually sounds really nice. We can bring dessert and some music, too.” Her smile grew as the idea seemed to grow on her. 

“Perfect. It’s a date.” Yorkie winked, standing to set the table for them before planting a gentle kiss on Kelly’s lips. She wouldn’t ever get enough of that.


	2. I Open Up My Eyes Under Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A problem is detected at TCKR Headquarters for the first time just as Kelly and Yorkie pursue their maritime anniversary celebration.

Track Two: “Yanada” The Preatures

TCKR Headquarters

“Mr. Tucker?” A thirty-something year old man knocked gently on the open doorway of Cal Tucker’s office while holding something in his other hand. 

“Matthew, come in. I wasn’t expecting you so soon. Did those reports come in already?” Cal asked, sitting in an executive chair behind a large glass and wood desk. The office was large, clearly marking his importance at this company. Son of the man who began TCKR Systems, having taking over only just recently. 

Matthew stepped forward, dressed nicely for work. He had large framed glasses over his eyes and a lab coat over his sharp attire. “Yes, sir. I’m uploading them now to the internal file for your records. Everything looks normal, apart from one small thing…”

Cal looked up from his computer, a screen fitted into the top of his desk, touchscreen of course. “What small thing?”

“Sir, we had a blip of a warning in the system.”

“Which sector?” Cal asked, opening the file on his computer, tapping a few things to skim the documents that were just uploaded.

“San Junipero.” Matthew replied, stepping forward to guide him to the proper document. “Right here.”

Cal sat up just a bit in his chair, looking it over. “Doesn’t seem too pressing. Fix it, however you need to.”

“Yes, sir.” Matthew responded, showing himself out a moment later.

Cal continued to dig, reading through the report and opening a few more documents before sitting back in his chair. He took a stern breath in before whispering, “shit.”

* * *

5:42 PM

“I had no idea you knew how to drive a boat. Is that even the right way to say that? _Drive_ a boat?” Kelly asked as she and her beautiful wife took off from the nearby pier in a rented Ferretti Flybridge, a luxury yacht for a luxurious evening celebrating their four years of marriage. Only the best in San Junipero. And _renting_ here was more like borrowing since money didn’t exactly apply. Kelly was dressed up for the occasion, in an all-white one-shoulder jumpsuit with her wild hair, now shorter, naturally voluminous. She had some jewelry on as well, pouring them both a glass of champagne, her bangles _clinking_ together from the motion of the pour. 

“Okay, not gonna lie, but my only real experience comes from video games and simulators, like the ones at the arcade. But what, are we gonna die or something?” She teased, looking back at Kelly coyly. “This is surprisingly easy.”

“Great. Well, keep your eyes on the _road_ before you get too cocky, hm?” She teased in return, walking over to hand her the glass. They shared a kiss before both taking a sip.

“Mm. What a beautiful night.” Yorkie commented, steering every so often to keep them headed in one direction. It didn’t really matter since they couldn’t go too far out, just enough to get away from the chaos of the night in the city. She was also dressed up this evening, her glasses off for a change and her hair down, falling straight to just above her shoulders. 

“It’s nice that we can still find new things to do here.” Kelly said softly. “I think that was one of my fears before I took the plunge. It was fun every Saturday, once a week, to come here and let loose. But I always did the same thing. It was always to unwind and disconnect from what was really happening to me.” She shrugged before admitting the next part of her thought, “I didn’t know if I wanted my afterlife to be a million Saturday nights in a packaged deal for an eternity.” 

“I get that.” Yorkie said softly, but she paused with a warm smile on her face, “I mean, to a point I do. For me, anything to have even a taste of something exciting was too tempting for me to pass up.”

“Here I am complaining about how boring eternal dancing would be, and I’ve almost forgotten what you were trying to escape,” Kelly offered apologetically, taking Yorkie’s hand in hers.

“Hey, it’s alright. We all have our fears. Mine was being confined to that bed for even another minute.” She admitted softly. “I knew my family was cruel, but living with the thought of them keeping me alive for that long, never visiting me, making all those decisions for me…” she shook her head slowly, finding it difficult even now to go back to those memories. She couldn’t help the momentary dampness in her eyes, the burning, trying to blink it away.

“I think the biggest ‘fuck you’ we could’ve given them is you ending up in a paradise riding out your best gay existence. With a black woman.” She chuckled, hoping to spark that darling laugh out of her sweetheart.

And it happened. Yorkie broke, smiling before laughing softly as she nodded. “That is an incredible way to look at it.” She found Kelly’s eyes, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “I guess I won in the end, huh?”

“Damn right you did.”

The night continued just as pleasantly as it had begun. Yorkie had _parked_ the yacht in the middle of the ocean, just far enough to only see the sparkles of the lights back on land. The two were laying in the cabin together on a makeshift bed, a perfect view in front of them of the sunset and calm water through a large, glass window. A blanket lay over their naked bodies, Yorkie on her back with Kelly’s head on her chest, right under her chin. They were quiet for a while after their much-deserved hour or so of playtime. 

“What do you think we’re actually looking at?” Yorkie asked in a mere whisper.

Kelly’s eyes were closed, but she was very much awake still. “What do you mean?”

“Like, the stars in the sky. Are those real? Or the sunset. Or any of this.”

“It’s real to us.” Kelly answered softly, easing herself closer to Yorkie’s warm body.

This forced a small smile to curve over Yorkie’s lips. That was a good enough response for her. Thinking about it too hard hurt too much. “What if we had met in real life?”

Now Kelly was smiling. She found Yorkie’s hand and laced her fingers in between her sweetheart’s. “This again?”

Yorkie laughed, “what?”

“You always ask me that.”

“I just love your answer.” She paused for a moment, kissing the top of Kelly’s head before speaking up again. “Tell me. Please.”

Kelly let out a playful sigh, as if burdened by this adorable question. Really, she was just playing. She loved it just as much as Yorkie did. “If you hadn’t have crashed and I hadn’t have met Richard, then you would’ve been a real thorn in my side.” 

Yorkie grinned as she always did when Kelly said that same thing. “And?”

“You would’ve confused me at first. Completely turned my world upside-down. Much like you did when we met here for the first time.” She explained. “Life wouldn’t have been so kind, especially in that time period, but I suspect we would’ve gone for it anyway. We’d be just as perfect as we are now, just with a pulse.”

“And?”

Kelly laughed, sitting up just enough to bump her nose to Yorkie’s. “And what, you goof?”

“And then we’d live…” she began, leaving it open for Kelly to finish.

Kelly placed a hand to Yorkie’s cheek. _You’re just too cute for words._ “Gayly ever after.” She grinned.

“My favorite part.” Yorkie said softly, that smile still present.

Kelly shook her head, leaning down to kiss her and get the romance started again. All they needed was a short break before the rhythm began once more, especially on a night like this. 

But just as their kisses heated up, Yorkie winced slightly.

Kelly narrowed her eyes, taking notice quickly. “What?” She asked, observing a reflection of blinking soft light on Yorkie’s face. She turned a bit and flashes of light could be seen through the window. 

“What is that?” Yorkie asked softly. She was instantly in a robe as she stood, careful of Kelly, heading onto the deck to get a better look. Her footsteps slowed as she approached the railing. “Kelly…” she called softly for her wife to come and look as well.

Kelly was behind her within seconds, also in a robe now. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the view.

The sunset that had just about disappeared below the horizon was blinking against the dark sky. Silent bolts of lightning appeared, just like they had the night before – but Kelly and Yorkie would only be witnessing this for the first time. The water, catching the impact from this light phenomenon, began to lift and fall more sharply as waves were created. They were so close that even the heat of this thing was hitting them. 

Kelly grabbed Yorkie’s hand suddenly. “We need to go.” She insisted. 

Yorkie continued to stare for a moment before nodding, snapping out of it. She rushed towards the wheel, the waves affecting her balance as they grew larger and larger. 

Suddenly, one last bolt of lightning struck, and forced the largest waves towards them. Kelly held on tightly to the open doorway of the cabin, the hit to the boat enough to completely knock Yorkie off her footing and send her into the water. 

“Yorkie!” Kelly screamed.

The sky returned to normal, the waves, as if on cue, bounced gently and calmly again as if nothing had happened. 

Underwater, Yorkie opened her eyes, the salt that should be stinging them not doing any harm. But when she opened them, she’d see an opening ahead, right under where the light event had just taken place. It looked like a black hole, and it was gently sucking her towards it. 

She panicked, trying to swim to the surface to beat the pressure of the pull.

Meanwhile, a desperate Kelly was now at the railing, running around the perimeter of the yacht to try to spot Yorkie. What the hell was taking so long? Even if she didn’t know how to swim, she couldn’t die here, right? Right?!

“Yorkie!” She yelled out into the water again. Please…


	3. A Flash of Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally see where Yorkie has ended up while, back in San Junipero, Kelly tries desperately to plan a course of action to get to the bottom of whatever is happening.

Track Three: “Space Song” Beach House

Unknown Time

Yorkie blinked her eyes open, her vision blurry at first as her mind began to catch up with what was happening. The memory of being on the yacht with Kelly, the strange lightning, hitting the water, and then being pulled into a void all appeared as flashes in her mind suddenly. This jolted her to sit up quickly and look around. She was completely dry from head to toe and there was a small crack in the left lens of her glasses that she was now wearing. She was in casual attire but didn’t remember changing.

Once her vision steadied, she glanced around at the space she was in. It was a dimly lit large room with nothing in it. There wasn’t anything on the white walls, no furniture or décor on the white floors, and the white ceiling was bare as well apart from industrial rectangular light panels with some lights blinking every so often.

Yorkie stood cautiously, walking to one side of the room to place her hand on the wall before turning one-by-one to face the other three walls. The last wall she glanced at had a door, but it was closed. This only furthered Yorkie’s concern.

"Hello?” She called out gently at first as she approached the closed door, the blinking lights causing her to squint into the otherwise dim space.

Her hand gingerly reached out to hold the door knob, and she took a quiet breath before turning it. There was a soft click indicating it was going to give, and she pushed it open prudently only to be met with a room exactly like the one behind her. Dimly lit. Industrial light panels. Blinking lights. Empty walls. Empty space. Another door across from her.

Her breathing lost its steadiness as a panic grew in her chest. The anxiety of it caused her to dash to the other side of the room and quickly throw the door open, losing all sense of caution. The next room, again, was the same as the last. She continued in this vicious loop for nearly another two whole minutes before collapsing against a wall in one of the many rooms. She slid down, defeated and terrified, and buried her head in her hands.

When she’d look up again, now with scared tears in her eyes and staining her cheeks, she’d notice something peculiar. The door she had last gone through was gone. She was in a room with four white, bare walls like when she first woke up. The only door to the left of her, the one that hadn’t been opened yet. Where did that other door go?

“Kelly!” She begged, screaming into the silent room, only her own echo responding to her.

  


* * *

1:47 AM

Kelly jumped off the yacht that she had managed to steer back towards land and onto the dock in a thunderous sort of way before running back towards the shoreline and to the parking lot where her Jeep was. She jumped it, started it up instantly before speeding recklessly towards the city. Her heart was going at such a pace that she almost couldn’t hear the silence between the rhythmic beats anymore. Then, as quickly as she was in her jeep, she was at Tucker’s running towards the bar. She stared down the barman who quirked a brow at her.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“No!” Kelly hissed, but paused. “Yes. My usual. But a double. Where do I go if there’s an emergency?”

“An emergency?”

“Right. Like, if something goes wrong? If someone goes missing?”

“You know as well as I that tourists leave San Junipero at-“

“I’m not talking about tourists. Yorkie is gone. She was – she was right there and then she was gone!” Upon the barman placing the drink down in front of her, she downed it in a single, elegant sip.

“That doesn’t make sense. She’s a permanent resident,” he responded, but not in a coy sort of way, instead with a tone of concern. “What happened?”

By now, Kelly’s mascara had stained her face and tears were falling whenever the memory of what just happened would hit again. “We were out on a boat. We saw this weird lightning in the sky. Or at least, what looks like the sky. Flashes of weird light. Like a-“

“Like a glitch in this ‘poifect’ system, right?” A man a few stools down replied. “I saw it. Two nights ago. I saw the lightning.” He hiccupped, then burped softly under his breath before taking another sip from the bottle in front of him.

“What?” Kelly asked quickly, standing up straighter before approaching him, the barman following since his curiosity had already been peeked.

“I was on the beach. I thought maybe it was just my imagination since I had been drinking all night but now that you’re here talking about it, huh. I guess it was real.” He shrugged, taking the final sip of his beer before tapping the bar top, an indication he was ready for another.

The barman shook his head sternly, “I think maybe you had enough for tonight, Jude.”

Jude made an awkward sort of face, frustrated. “What, like something is going to happen or me or something? I’m already dead, y’know.”

Kelly eyed the barman, nodding in approval for Jude to get his next drink before sitting beside him. “I saw it tonight. It took my wife. She fell into the water because the waves started going crazy and knocked her off the deck. She never surfaced.” Her voice was becoming more and more pained. “Did anything else happen the night you saw it?”

Jude thought it over, but shook his head a moment later. “It all stopped so quickly. Everything went silent, like nothing ever happened.” He hiccupped again, then perked up a bit. “You know, it looked like someone was trying to make it day again. It looked like flashes of sunlight in a dark, night sky.”

The barman placed another beer in front of Jude, leaning against the bar as he thought things over. “I think there’s a place we can go if something goes wrong. To send an SOS signal of sorts to, you know, whoever is in charge of making sure everything is running smoothly here.”

Kelly looked to him. “Where?”

“Well,” he continued, “I mean, it’s more a rumor than anything else. On the other side of the mountains, past The Quagmire and all the off-the-beaten-trail homes scattered near it.”

Jude shook his head. “There’s nothing there. That’s where the design ends.”

“How do you know? Have you been there?” The barman asked, narrowing his eyes.

“No.” Jude replied sternly. “Just, no one is crazy enough to go there because nothing is there. Literally _nothing_. Fall-off-a-cliff-into-the-abyss nothing. The void, I’ve heard people call it. No man’s land. The jump-point.”

“I get it.” Kelly interrupted.

“No, you don’t. People who realize San Junipero was some big mistake for them go there. And they never come back.” Jude continued urgently, too caught up in the seriousness of this to take another sip from his freshly opened beer.

The barman sighed, defeated. “Maybe they’re all rumors.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Kelly insisted.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading - more to come soon! :)


End file.
